London borough becomes latest council to transfer local land charges service to Land Registry

Wandsworth Council has become the latest local authority to transfer its local land charges (LLC) service to the national LLC Register run by HM Land Registry.

Council Leader Simon Hogg said: “For the first time property buyers in the Wandsworth area will have instant access to LLC information free of charge. Or they can opt to pay £15 for an official guaranteed search.

“The council is absolutely committed to making sure it does everything possible to help people through this [cost-of-living] crisis. This includes helping property buyers to get the information they need quickly and simply, so their transactions are not compromised.”

The Land Registry said that local authorities were also reporting increased efficiencies from transferring the service. “The transformation of paper, microfiche and electronic charges into digital records provides greater data transparency. Council teams can access the information easily, reducing interdepartmental questions, and increasing speed of service.”

It added that continued monitoring and analysis of the register’s data had also identified opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce potential compensation risks.

“Recent analysis identified a lapse between a council’s finance and housing department teams, resulting in the delayed registration of housing grant charges. The council had awarded hundreds of grants to local families. A sample test of 10 unregistered charges revealed the council risked losing more than £500,000, because a grant term could not be enforced.”

The Land Registry, which aims to make all LLC searches in England and Wales accessible online by 2025, has launched a new award, the Best Performing Migrated Local Authority award, to celebrate local authorities “who have outstanding management of the register and communicate well with us”.